So it’s that time of year again where most people are taking a break from their busy lives and instead will spend some quality time with family and friends. For that to happen many will need to first brave the packed out shopping centres, survive the battle of the car parks and spend lots of money on presents. Christmas!

For Christians this is a pretty important time (that’s an understatement) on our calendar, as it’s when we celebrate the birth of God in the flesh. On one hand we look no different to the rest of the world that is celebrating, and on the other its the opportunity to look and act a little bit different while celebrating Jesus’s birthday.

In the last week I have found myself for the first time ever wondering about the origins of the Christmas season. Questions like when was Jesus actually born, why December the 25th, is Jesus really the reason for the season and does any of this really matter caused me to do a bit of reading. I gotta tell ya I was pretty shocked, but more disturbed that I had never actually thought about any of this stuff . What about you, have you spent any time reflecting on these types of questions and if not why not?

Indeed Christ was born! But no one knows the exact date of the birth of Jesus.

December 25th and surrounding dates was a time of a number of celebrations by the Romans. One of the main celebrations was for the birthday of the unconquered sun. This festival was on the 25th December. After Emperor Constantine became a Christian and through the influence of other Christians, over time Christian celebrations blended in with what was already.

You will often hear Christians announce during this time of the year that Jesus is the reason for the season

Christmas or Christ’s-mass was a special catholic church service celebrating the birth of Christ sometime in the fourth century.

It would seem that todays Christmas season is a melting pot of many different reasons for celebrating. Because of this, is it helpful for Christians to continue to say that on this day Christ was born or that Jesus is the reason for the season? I say no it’s not, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot celebrate at all during this time. Having a break from work and the opportunity to hang out with the people we care about is awesome, and it reminds many of what is important.

I wanted to end this post by suggesting that Jesus is not the reason for this season, and we are extremely lucky as Christians because we believe God so loved the world and in John 1:14 we are told that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. This means we don’t have to wait until December each year to celebrate. We have the opportunity to be thankful all year round.

Thanks for reading. If you have found this post helpful or would like to add anything, please leave a comment.

Hi Dave, the key to your post is this: “This means we don’t have to wait until December each year to celebrate. We have the opportunity to be thankful all year round.”

This has always been my thinking. The pagan origins of our Christian “celebration” has been well documented for centuries, and born-again Christians should be aware of it. To me, December 25 is no different than any other day, especially considering that it’s 99.9 percent certain Jesus was NOT born on that day (probably not even close).

For the early Church, and indeed in the Bible, Christ’s death and resurrection has ALWAYS been THE most crucial time of celebration (especially note how exacting the Bible is in documenting the time of Christ’s death [the Passover], and holds Jesus’ death and resurrection in highest of regards). The modern-type celebration of “Christmas” came centuries later. Regarding the birth of Jesus, the Bible is more concerned with the miraculous nature of it (Jesus NOT born of man, but of the Holy Spirit working in the life of a virtuous young woman) rather than the time of it.

Now that I’ve got the “Grinch” out of my system, I can wish you a wonderful Christ-filled Christmas … and thanks for the thoughtful post!

G’day and thanks for your comment David. I am still learning about this stuff but I guess I have further questions now. What do I do about it and is does it really matter at all? I appreciate your words, not a Grinch at all lol

Great post & interesting facts on the origins of Christmas. It has been something that I’ve always questioned because, some are totally against it and some are not especially when it comes to how commercialize Christmas is now. So thanks for sharing your facts also in Jeremiah 10: 3-5 it speaks on what many have labeled as a Christmas tree as a reason why they shouldn’t celebrate. Either way our Lord and Savior is truly the reason for the season and as long as we are not idolizing the wrong things…tis the season ☺️🙏🏾
Happy Holidays as well to you and yours

Hey thanks for dropping by and for your comment, You are right about what we choose to worship, we do need to be careful and especially around this time. I am still learning and while I don’t want to come across as a Grinch type character, I do feel there needs to be some kind of response to the truth. Thanks again

Hi, Dave! I think perhaps that Christmas was offered by Constantine as an alternative to the pagan celebrations (in much the same way that some have harvest celebrations on Halloween), and that the Christmas celebration soon overtook the pagan celebrations… and that that is why there are still vestiges of the previous celebrations. I think that it was a wise move on Constantine’s part… and that as we also share the gospel with people, we do as Paul did… finding a point of connection (you remember that in the book of Acts, he noted they had an altar to the ‘unknown God’) and using that as a jumping off point for sharing Christ. Maybe, that was also part of Constantine’s decision to set the celebration of Christ’s incarnation for December? Just some thoughts that your excellent post has inspired in me… This is truly a wonderful post, Dave! Thank you! And God bless you big time this Christmas!

Howdy Lynn and thanks heaps for commenting. Since posting this I have been thinking a lot about this, I am still learning for sure. I am thankful for your comment as it forces me to think about what I have written more deeply and work out how I should respond during these times. I like the whole “unknown God” part of your comment and understand the point that you are making. I def want to be a thinking Christian as well as one who walks by faith as well if you know what I mean. Hope your doing good.

https://opened-heart.com/2017/11/28/christmas-is-not-pagan/ This is a word press link on the timing of some events of 12- 25, I do not know all the source work you did or the Dr. that posted this link. You can read and make your own mind up…. Jesus did come to earth as a man, yet with out sin, then resurrected after the death on the cross; A worthy event to be celebrated even if on the wrong date. Glory to God in the highest! Blessings to you Dave.
Denny

It is interesting to find another believer having similar thoughts to myself about the Christmas issues. They have been growing for me over the last 3 years or so. I started by not putting up a Christmas tree, then I read more the following year (& prayed much, of course) and I have decided that it is best to go “cold turkey” on it altogether now! In fact, this has been my 2nd year of “Not doing Christmas” at all. It has been most liberating to me – though confusing to some others around me.

I started a blog last year and have thus far written a couple of posts on this very issue. If you are interested, you can see how I have developed in my faith and thoughts at the following links.

Thanks for dropping by Helen and for your comment. Lots to think about there that’s for sure. I’m just keen on following Christ and thinking about why I do things. I will continue to think about my faith and asking God to show me what’s next. It’s an interesting journey